Vault or analogous structure



(No Model.) 2 Sheets'-Sheet 1.

G. L. REMINGTON. V-AKULT 0R ANALOGOUS sRUGTURE.

l\o.f1."' 3,279.v Patented June 2, 1891.

ma mums mms co., vuoto-umn., wAsHmoTa-w, u. c.

. (No'Model.)

'I No. 453.279. Patented June 2,1891.

2 sheets-sheet 2.

G. L. REMINGTON.

` VAULT 0R ANALOGOUS'STRUTURE.

Suva/woz d UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE L. REMINGTON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

VAULT OR ANALOGOUS STRUC'I'URE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 453,279, dated June 2,1891.

i Application tiled February 20, 1891. Serial'No. 382,253. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. REMINGTON,

of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as.

will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse thesame.

My invention relates to an improvement in false iioors for the entrancesand vestibules of banks, safe-deposits, and vaults, or rooms or similarapartments.

Hitherto it has been .the practice to construct vaults, doors, andframes with a less number of steps or rabbets at the bottom than at thesides and top for the purpose of making as small a stumbling-block aspossible to be stepped over in passing in and out of the vault.Obviously if a certain number of these steps or rabbets are desirable ornecessary at the top and sides of the door in order to formburglar-proof joints, for the same reason an equivalent number should beprovided at the bottom, and hence to reduce the number results in aweakness at this point.

Y It is the object of my invention to obviate this objection and makethe door as safe from attack along one edge as another; and a fur- Yther object is to provide means for creating` a flush passage-way infront of and between the sills of the entrance when the doors are openand for dropping these false floors out of the way when the doors areclosed.

Vith these ends in view my invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction and combinations of parts, -as will be hereinafterdescribed, and pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal section through avault, showing the doors closed and the mechanism for operating thefalse bottoms. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, and Figs. 3 and 4 arevertical sectional views taken at right angles toeach other.

A represents the vestibule of a' vault, the numeral 1 the inner and 2the outer sills of the vestibule, and 3 and 4 the inner and outer doors,respectively, of the vault. The sills 1 and 2 are raised above the levelof the floor in the usual manner, 'and the door-frames are others arealso rocked.

provided with the accustomed steps or rabbets, as a precautionaryprovision against burglarizing the vault. The four edges of :the doorsare correspondingly constructed to fit the frames so that when closedthe vault is made air-tight and burglar-proof. The es- ,sential featureof the present invention, howlever, consists in the false floors ortreads 6 land 7 arranged, respectively, inside of the vestibule and infront of the entrance, and constructed to be elevated to the level ofthe sills 1 and 2 when the doors are opened, and to be dropped from thisposition and out of the way when the doors are to be closed. This is' abroad statement of my invention, and it is evident that its practicalembodiment in mechanical devices could be effected in various ways. Forinstance, the system of mechanism illustrated has met with approval asbeing simple, durable, and effective. HenceI will proceed to describe itin details.

6 indicates theinner or vestibule false floor. Shafts 10 lO, preferablytwo in number, eX- tend transversely beneath this floor and areconvenientlyjournaled in bearings 11 1 l on the floor of the vestibule.These shafts are provided with' arms 12 l2, the outerends of which arepivotally connected with the edges of the false floor 6. It will beobserved that these arms are curved and when the floor is elevated theypreferably extend alittle forward of the shafts, so that the floor willdrop by its own weight when means for counteracting this effect isremoved. In this connection it may be mentioned that it is not necessaryto adhere to this particular arrangement, as the arms might be connectedwith the false ioor further inward, if preferred, in which case itsWeight would not be sustained by the weight of the door. Oncorresponding ends of the shafts 10 10 bevel gear-wheels 13 13 aresecured, and a shaft 14, extending at right angles to shaft-s 10 10, isalso provided with larger bevel gear-wheels 15 15, the teeth of whichintermesh with the teeth of gear-Wheels 13 13, to the end that if oneshaft is rocked the The rocking of these shafts is produced by the door,which when swung wide open operates to rock shaft 14."

A simple means for accomplishing this result is that shown, in which anarm 17 is secured on the shaft 14. This arm is provided with YOC a pairof outwardlvcurved fingers 18 1S at its free end, which are sufficientlyseparated to receive the lower edge of the vault door. When the falsefioor is in its depressed position, the arm 17 inclines inwardly at anangle of about forty-five degrees and the inner finger 18 would liebelow the lower edge of the door, so that when the dooris moving ontwardit would pass over this finger and strike the outer one, thus forcingthe arm outward, rocking the shaft and resulting in raising the floor.As the arm swings outward the two fingers embrace opposite sides of thedoor, where they remain as long as the door is open. The door beingheavy, not only sustains the weight of the false fioor, but alsosupports anyordinary weight thereon in addition to its own weight andhence the door has to be closed by force applied directly to it beforethe floor will drop, and as the operator ordinarily stands-on the floorwhen he closes the door his weight on the floor assists in moving thedoor. By this arrangement of fingers it will be seen that the floornever drops until the door by its contact against the inner finger rocksthe arm inward and starts the `floor ou its downward course.

Some slight changes could be made without material departure from thespirit of the invention. For instance, it is not absolutely necessary touse two pairs of bevel gear-wheels One pair is suliieient; or even morethan two could be used. Agaimthe mechanism which has been described wassimplyn applicable to a single large door. When double doors areemployed, the gearing, the rock-shaft 14., and its arm 17 should betransferred to the opposite side of the passage, as the inner and lastdoor to open of double doors would open to the left. Another slightdepartureis shown in the mechanism at the outside entrance. This is anexpedient for making a flush passage-way over the pit 19 in which thedoor swings. This is practically the same mechanism already describedwith the omission of the bevel gear-wheels and one of the shafts. Thefalse floor or platform is supported on arms mounted on rocking shaft,and the operating-arm I7 is applied directly to one of these shafts,preferably at or near one end. This arm is slightly different from theother one, as one finger is for convenience made a trifie longer andlargerthan the other. By swinging the door against this arm the shaft isrocked and the floor is raised and held by the weight ot' the door, aspreviously described. Then the door is closed, the floor again drops.For double doors the necessary modifications could of course be made asdescribed in connection with the vestibule-door, and hence it is notnecessary to enter further into details. In the above description I havereferred to devices for automatically elevating and lowering theplatform; but as my invention comprchends, broadly, a horizontalplatform or platforms adapted to be elevated and lowered while in ahorizontal position, I do not wish to be understood as confining themeans for lowering and raising the platform to devices instance, a leverW, (shown in dotted lines secured to the platform,) or in a socket car-:ried by one of the arms.

Having fully described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire tosecure by LettersA Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a vault or analogous structure having araisedsill or obstruction, of a horizontal floor Jr platform adapted to beelevated while in a horizont-al. position, and fitting said sill orobstruction when in its elevated position, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a vault or analogous structure having a raisedsill or obstruction, of a platform, a rock-shaft, arms connected to therock shaft and supporting the platform near one end, and movable armssup porting the platform near the opposite end.

3. The combination, with a vault or analogous structure having a raisedsill or obstruction, of a series of rocking arms and a plat-y form orfloor mounted on the rocking arms, and means actuated by the door forrocking the arms and elevating the platform, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with a vault or analogous structure having a raisedsill or obstruction, of a series of supports secured at their lower endsand adapted to rock, a platform supported on the free ends of saidsupports, and means for rocking the supports and elevating and loweringthe platform.

5. The combination of an entrance to a vault or room having a pittherein, a door for said vault or room, a movable platform adapted to bemoved to the level of the bank-floor, doorsills and floor of the vault,and means actuated by said door for moving the platform, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony v hf reof I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE I.. REMINGTON.

Witnesses:

O. S. DRURY, G. F. DowNING.

IOO

ITO

